Door closing device



March 7, 1950 J. H. BOYE 2,499,719

DOOR CLOSING DEVICE Filed June 19, 1948 1 ZSheets-Sheu 1 16 I 3 5 INVENTOR.

Jamea flfiqye,

March 7, 1950 J. H. BOYE 2,499,719

DOOR CLOSING DEVICE Filed June 19, 1,948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I IN VEN TOR.

Patented Mar. 7, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DQOR CLOSING DEVICE James H. Boye, Chicago, 111., assignor to James H. Boye Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Il1., a corporation of Illinois Application June 19, 1948, Serial No. 34,020

Claims. 1

The invention relates to door closers and has reference particularly to door closers of the spring type which will employ coil spring means in a manner so as to have a direct pull substantially at right angles to the door and which will maintain the desired tension in the spring for a long period of use.

In the conventional coil spring as heretofore used for closing screen doors, difficulty has been encountered .in maintaining the proper tension in the spring. Generally the springs are too tight or too loose and when a reasonably correct tension is secured it is very often changed by a wide opening of the door beyond a ninety degree position. The springs are made of relatively weak, cheap wire which is tightly wound so that there is little excess or continuous stretch and which when exceeded reduces the tension of the spring. Also such coil springs as applied to screen doors in the past have been broken or badly kinked by the opening action of the door to a maximum extent since when this happens the coil spring is caused to bend around the edge of the door.

An obect of the present invention is to provide a new and improved door closing device of the coil spring type which willpull the door directly inward to a closed position with the spring running over a roller or the like constructed and arranged to conserve the stretch in the spring and maintain proper tensioning over a long period of use.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a door closer as above described which will employ two springs of different quality and degree of stretch and wherein the spring of better quality is employed to control the initial opening movements of the door to a predetermined open position with the spring of inferior quality and less stretch being employed to control opening movement of the door beyond said predetermined position.

A further object of the invention is to provide a door closing device employing two flexible coil springs with one having lighter tension than the 2 ing the coil spring and wherein the location of the roller determines the intermediate point of contact of the spring with the door jamb.

Another object is to provide a closer of the spring type as described which will be relatively simple and economical in construction, which will not easily get out of order, and a device that can be located under the upper casing of the door jamb out of the way, being partly protected from the weather although easily accessible for repairs.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto.

In the drawings which illustrate an embodiment of the invention and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts- Figure 1 is a side elevational view showing a door jamb with a screen door supported thereby and which is equipped with the door closing device of the invention;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 of Figure 1 to illustrate in plan view the closing device of the invention and its manner of attachment to the door and to the door jamb;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view illustrating the action of the door closing device when two coil springs of different quality and stretch are employed;

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view similar to Figure 3 but illustrating the action of the heavier coil spring when the door is opened beyond a predetermined position; and

' Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view showing a modified form of the invention wherein a single coil spring is employed.

Referring to the drawings, and in particular Figures 1 and 2, the invention is illustrated in connection with a screen door indicated in its entirety by numeral 50 and which essentially consists of top and bottom members 11 and 12, respectively, an intermediate cross member, 13, and vertical connecting side members 14 and 15. A door amb is provided to which the screen door is hingedly secured, the said jamb including vertical spaced uprights l6 and I! and a connecting upper casing it. A plurality of hinges 20 are secured to the vertical side member l5 of the door-and to the vertical upright 11 of the door jamb whereby the door is supported for pivotal movement so that the door may be opened and closed in the conventional manner.

The door closing device of the invention essentially consists of the journalling member 2|, Figures 2 and 3, which journals the roller 26. Coil spring means such as 23 has connection to the door jamb and to the door at its respective ends, said coil spring means passing over the roller and being guided thereby. As best shown in Figure 3 the journalling member 25 consists of top and bottom plates 24 and 25, the roller 25 being mounted between the plates and journalled by the stud shaft 21 provided thereon. The plates are held in spaced relation by one or more threaded screws 28 which position and support the tubular spacers between the plates,

The two front screws each support spacers 29, whereas the plates are held by one rear screw which supports a spacer 3i].

The coil spring means for the door closing device as shown in Figure 3 consists of two coil springs of \di-fierent quality and stretch. A large proportion of the opening and closing movements of the door will be controlled by the high quality coil spring 3! of music wire or similar material and which has a relatively light tension with considerable stretch. One end of this spring is fixed to the eyelet 32 anchored in the upper casing N3 of the-door jamb. The other end of the coil spring 3! is fixed to a stop member 33, the stop member being constructed of any suitable light material and is of such width as to contact the front spacers .29, being prevented by the spacers from passing beyond this point in a direction toward the right, Figures 3 and 4. The

other flexible coil spring 34 .is suitably secured to the stop member 33 .at one end and to the door at its other end, as at 35. The coil spring 34 is constructed of lower quality metal than spring 3! and is somewhat heavier in weight with a heavier tension and correspondingly less stretch. This spring 34, however, passes over roller 26 and is guided by said roller. Also it will be observed that the position of the roller determines the location on the upper casing from which the spring is paid out and in accordance with the invention this position locates the coil spring 34 so that it acts on 'the door at substantially right angles thereto except when the door is opened beyond a normal open position. As a result of this structure thepull exerted by the coil spring is substantially normal to the door so that spring tension .is applied in a most efficient manner and to the maximum extent for the particular spring employed.

In operation of the door closing device of the invention it will be seen that the door is maintained closed, Figure 2, by the action of the coil spring 3| although coil spring 34 may also assist said first mentioned spring. However, since coil spring 31 consists of high quality wire of relatively light tension with considerable stretch substantially all the tension to maintain the doorin closed position is exerted by this spring. Also this closing tension on the door is applied at right angles to the door and relatively close to the hinges 20. properly adjust the length of the combination coil spring 23 in order to provide just the right tension for properly holding the door in closed position with respect to the door jarnb !6. By reason of the high quality wire in the spring 3! it is possible to maintain correct closing tension on the door over a long period-oi use. This high quality spring of relatively light tension has the additional desirable function that :the .door is adequately heldclosed and has a definite closing It is necessary, of course, to

action which, however, is more quiet than it would be if a low quality heavier tension spring was used.

In Figure 3 the door has been opened to a normal extent which is approximately threefourths of a complete opening movement. Up to this normal or predetermined opening position of the door only the high quality coil spring 3| has been stretched. Ver little stretching if any takes place in the heavier spring 34. This opening action of the door brings the stop 33 into contact with the spacers 29 positioned by the journalling member 2|. The spacers are located :on the respective sides of the coil spring means and the space between them is such as to allow the coil spring to operate but to block the passage of the stop 33. When the stop is in contact with the spacers the coil spring 3i has reached the limit of its stretch. Therei ore any further opening movement of the door beyond this predetermined three-fourths open position causes extension of the coil spring 34. Due to the rather oblique angle which the coil spring now has with the door this additional opening movement does not unduly stretch coil spring 34- and this action constitutes one of the important features of the invention since coil spring 34 consists of inferior quality wire and its degree of stretch is limited.

In accordance with the invention the position of the light spring 3i and the heavier spring .34 determines the extent of use of these springs during opening of the door. Coil spring 3| is stretched upon each and every opening of the door. However, this is not the case with the heavier spring 34. The action of the coil spring means in running over the roller 26 makes this operation possible and in addition a definite closing action results although the slam of the door against the door jamb is materially reduced. The location of the journalling means 2| on the casing determines the intermediate contact which the roller 26 has with the coil spring means. It is possible to vary this position. in which case the location of the eyelet32 would also be varied, so as to suit various doors, either heavy or light, and to better adapt the closing action to the types of coil springs used.

In th modification of Figure 5 the door generally designated H is pivotally secured to the vertical upright ll of the door jamb by the hinges 20. Upper casing l8 has suitably secured thereto the journalling member 2| which journals the roller 26 as described, the plates of the journalling member being held in spaced relation by studs such as 28 which retain and position the spacers 30. In this modification the coil spring means consists of a single coil spring indicated bynumeral 36 which has one end secured to eyelet 3? fixed to the upper casing l8 and its other end secured to the door as at 35. Said coil spring 36 may consist entirely of a high quality wire such as music wire or of a grade of Wire intermediate the high quality employed for spring SI and the inferior .quality of spring 34. In this modification the stop 33 has been eliminated and the spring .36. is caused to stretch upon each and every opening of the door.

The invention is not to be limited to or by details .of construction of the particular embodiment thereof illustrated by the drawings as var1- 0115 other forms of the device will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without .de-

parting .from the spiritof the-invention or .the

75 scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a door closing device, the combination with a door hingedly supported from a door jamb and adapted to close against said door jamb, of coil spring means including two flexible coil springs joined together and having one end secured to the door with the other end of the coil spring means being secured to the door jamb, one of said flexible coil springs having a lighter tension than the other, a journalling member also secured to the door jamb, a roller journalled by said member, said journalling member being positioned intermediate the length of the coil spring means and having said coil spring means in contact with the roller, a stop member secured intermediate the length of said coil spring means and between the flexible coil springs thereof, said stop member contacting said journalling member upon movement of the coil spring means in opening of the door to a predetermined extent, whereby further stretch of one of said coil springs is prevented and is transferred to the other coil spring in the event the door opens beyond said predetermined position, said roller having contact with said other coil spring and functioning to guide said spring upon movement thereof as the door opens and closes.

2. In a door closing device, the combination with a door hingedly supported from the door jamb and adapted to close against said door jamb, of coil spring means comprising two flexible coil springs joined together and having one end secured to the door with the other end of said coil spring means being secured to the door jamb, a journalling member also secured to the door jamb, a roller journalled by said member, said journalling member being positioned intermediate the length of the coil spring means and having said coil spring means in contact with the roller, a stop member located between said coil springs and located on the side of the roller removed from the door, said stop member contacting the journalling member upon movement of the coil spring means in opening of the door to a predetermined extent, whereby further stretch of one of said flexible coil spring is prevented and is transferred to the other coil spring should the door open beyond said predetermined position.

3. In a door closing device, the combination with a door hingedly supported from the door jamb and adapted to close against said door jamb, of coil spring means including a flexible coil spring of light tension high quality wire and a coil spring of heavier tension and inferior quality wire, said coil springs being secured together with a stop member therebetween and the coil spring of light tension being secured to the door jamb with the heavier tension] spring being secured to the door, a journalling member also secured to the door jamb, a roller journalled by the member, said roller having contact with the heavier tension spring to guide the same as the spring moves in opening and closing of the door, and means engaging the stop member upon movement of the coil spring means in opening of the door to a predetermined extent, whereby further stretch of the coil spring of light tension is prevented and whereby additional stretch is transferred to the heavier tension spring in the event the door is opened beyond said predetermined position.

4. In a door closing device, the combination with a door jamb and a door having opening and closing movement therewith, of coil spring means comprising two flexible coil springs joined together with a stop member interposed between, one of said flexible coil springs having a lighter tension than the other, and means engaging the stop member for stopping the stretch of said lighter tension spring when the door is opened to a predetermined position and for transferring the stretch to the heavier tension spring should the door open beyond said predetermined position, and roller means supported by the door jamb and having contact with said heavier tension spring for guiding the same as the door opens and closes.

5. A door closing device, in combination, coil spring means having one end secured to the door and the other end secured to a fixed support, said coil spring means comprising two flexible coil springs joined together with a stop member therebetween, one of said flexible coil springs having a lighter tension and being constructed of higher quality wire than the other coil spring, a journalling member secured to said fixed support, a roller journalled by said member and having contact with said coil spring of heavier tension, whereby the stop member is located beyond the roller and between the same and the end of the coil spring of lighter tension which is secured to the fixed support, and means engaging the stop member upon movement of the coil spring in opening of the door to a predetermined extent, whereby further stretch of said coil spring of lighter tension is prevented and whereby additional stretch is transferred to the heavier tension spring in the event the door is opened beyond said predetermined position.

JAMES H. BOYE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Potter Nov. 28, 1911 Number 

